SCOTTY'S STROLL: Volleyball Always a Family Affair

By Larry Scott, retired Sports Information Director

It was just a two-year stay, two quick seasons to leave an imprint, but Carrie Hegg Vetter pounced on the opportunity and played a major role in lifting Minnesota State University Moorhead to national volleyball prominence. In addition, Hegg would also add another chapter to the remarkable Hegg legacy.

The first of three Heggs to compete at MSU Moorhead, she quickly found a home at MSUM and helped raise the bar for the Dragons. A two-time All-NSIC pick, Hegg was twice named to the NAIA All-American second team and was voted the Dragons’ Most Valuable Player as well.

In two seasons at State Hegg produced 942 kills and helped MSUM post a 62-24 record. In 1994 Hegg and her Dragon pals captured the NAIA District 13 title, the Bi-District championship and advanced to the NAIA National Tournament in Hawaii.?
Hegg transferred to Moorhead State in 1993 after a two-year stop at North Dakota State University and quickly became a fixture in an explosive lineup. She insists the transition was seamless and there were no regrets with the move. “Not one. My experience as a Dragon was wonderful. I had a great coach (Becky Schulze) and team, and great support from the athletic department.”

“After graduating from a high school that had a winning tradition, I wanted to play at a competitive collegiate level that was (close) for me, and I knew MSUM would provide that.”

Hegg starred in basketball, softball, track and volleyball at Win-E-Mac High School and extended the rich tradition of Minnesota’s First Family of Volleyball. She sparked the Patriots to the 1988 Minnesota State High School Volleyball Championship and place second in 1987 and 1990. Hegg was a two-time Minnesota All-State selection and also competed in the 1989 Minnesota State Basketball Tournament.
?“The biggest adjustment from high school was that everyone in college was good in their position and you needed to perform in order to keep yours,” explained Hegg. “Your opponents were better as well so team performance became a bigger issue with each match and tournament.”

While Hegg thoroughly enjoyed her athletic career at State, she is confident she also learned valuable lessons. ?
“One benefit of being a student-athlete is coming in contact with so many people,” said Hegg. “One of the most important things I learned is try to make a good impression on everyone you meet, and if you treat people with respect and show them they’re important they’ll remember it. All of the connections made in college are valuable, whether it's getting your first job or just being part of something very special.”

Her induction into the Dragon Hall of Fame in 2001 was a crowning moment. “I remember being nervous,” Hegg said. “I am not very good at public speaking and was worried until after I gave my speech. Everything went well and MSUM did a great job making the night a wonderful experience. It was special to be able to celebrate with my family, a few friends, and especially former coaches that helped make it possible.” ?
Daughter of Tom and Eileen Hegg and was raised on a farm near Winger, and the specialty crop was talented female athletes, especially volleyball players. Carrie didn’t have to look far for inspiration---older sister Nikki was a most successful high school athlete and an ideal role model.
Growing up a Hegg had its advantages.

“We enjoyed the game and the time with each other, and there was also a lot of laughing. These times provided us with lots of memories and brought us together as a family. We had wonderful parents who put family first despite the fact both of them coached. As each sister graduated there was more pressure to perform, but pressure goes hand-in-hand with success.”

After graduating from MSUM she began a teaching and coaching career that led her from the Red River Valley to the Southwest and later to Roseau, just a spike away from the Canadian border. She pocketed a batch of coaching awards, including Minnesota Section 8AA Co-Coach of the Year in 2001, and guided the Rams to a second place finish in 2002 at the Minnesota Section 8 AA Championships.

“I’m an elementary education teacher and have taught grades 1-4. I am currently staying at home with my children until they’re all school age. ?I have coached for about 15 years and am currently the head volleyball coach at Hawley High School.”

Red and white continue to be the colors of choice at home. Hegg is married to a Bob Vetter, a former runningback with the Dragons, and the Vetter Family includes four children, Jacob (9), Maria (7), Johnny (5) and Katarina (2). ?
Family comes first, but Hegg still continues to keep an eye on the Dragons.

“I’m in contact with the head volleyball coach throughout the year and keep up with the Dragons via e-mail and newsletters.”

Scotty's Stroll: A Dragons Double-Play Combo

By Larry Scott, retired Sports Information Director

Before they shared the news anchor desk at WDAY-TV, Kirsten Kealy and Dana Mogck sparkled on the same diamond at Alex Nemzek Field, trusty middle infielders for the Dragons of yesteryear.

A native of Buffalo, Kealy pounced on a starting role at shortstop as a freshman and spent three seasons in the heart of the Minnesota State Moorhead softball lineup before parlaying a Mass Communications degree into a rewarding news career.

“I got really interested in MSU Moorhead after head softball coach Katy Wilson came to my high school on a recruiting trip,” said Kealy. “She talked with me and another girl about the program and the school and encouraged us to come for a campus visit. I came for the tour and really liked the atmosphere and team dynamics. In the process I was encouraged to apply for one of MSUM's academic scholarships, the Honor's Apprentice Scholarship. It paid tuition and fees for four years in exchange for ‘apprenticing’ for a certain number of hours a week in one of hundreds of areas. I got the word shortly after that I had gotten the scholarship and that sealed the deal and landed me at MSUM.”

Kealy was something of an overnight success story for the Dragons.

“I started for three years. I earned a starting spot as a freshman and started the next two years. I wasn't able to play as a senior because of a rotator cuff injury, and because I needed to dedicate the spring of my senior year to finding a job.”

A three-year letterwinner, Kealy set a single season record with 15 stolen bases, ranked second on the club with 15 runs scored and batted .271 in 1996 as a junior.

Now, more than a decade since she last laced up her spikes at MSUM, memories of those special days of yesteryear continue to bubble up.

“I have a lot of great memories from my Dragon career,” Kealy said. “I met a lot of great women who even after spending many hours in a bus together week after week still liked and counted on each other. We did pretty well my freshman and sophomore year behind some great pitchers.”

“My personal highlight was a game we played in the Twin Cities. The winner would move on, and the loser would go home; the season over. There were two outs in the bottom of the seventh with a freshman (me) up to bat. I don't think anyone was overly excited about that, including me. I had hit singles to the right side all game so when I got up to bat, the right fielder came up shallow on me. I ended up hitting it over her head, and it rolled and rolled. She had to chase it all the way to the fence, and I ran for an inside the park home run which won the game. I'm pretty sure it was the only home run of my college career.”

“I also enjoyed the spring trip we took south my junior year, ending up in Oklahoma. We saw the Federal building there not too long after the bombing and really didn't get many games in because it was the coldest weather they'd had there in many years, and no one would play us. Nice spring trip!”

Kealy is confident she learned some valuable lessons from her softball career that continue to guide her today.

“I think sports is such a good training ground for life in general. I learned that discipline, hard work and practice truly pay off. I learned the importance of teamwork, something that is still essential in my job today and how both positivity and negativity are contagious. I also learned how to win and lose, succeed and fail, how you can learn a lot about people by watching them do both and how you can learn a lot about people by how they treat people. Also self esteem is a big part of what you learn in sports. Then and now, I value people who are driven and love a competitive spirit.”

Family and professional commitments take much of Kealy’s time, but she continues to keep an eye on her Dragons.

“I teach a class at MSUM (Campus News writing) so I am on campus quite often. One of my former softball coaches is Karla Nelson, now the head women's basketball coach, and I try to get to as many of her basketball games as I can. I keep track of how the teams are doing, and I also can't pass up a golf tournament to support the Dragons. I was lucky enough to make friends at MSUM (many through athletics and who still work at MSUM) who still remain my friends today.”

A native of Fargo, ND and a graduate of Fargo South High School, Mogck remembers joining the Dragon athletic family as a freshman.

“I chose MSUM because of its accounting program. That, obviously, didn't work out. I didn't even know if I was going to play baseball, but had a change of heart in the spring. I walked into Dr. (Bill) Thomas' office, and he put the recruiting pitch on me right then and there. I believe he said, ‘Yea, I was meaning to talk to you.’ I was sold!”

A finished product of the Fargo American Legion program, Mogck hit the ground running, fielding and hitting at State.

“I was fortunate to start all four years,” said Mogck. “Coach Thomas had a rule of seniors getting priority over underclassmen. But after playing in the second game of doubleheaders for two weekends, I won the starting job at second base.”

A four-year starter and fixture in the MSUM infield at second base, the Fargo South High School product batted a career high .412 as a freshman in 1979 and was saluted as the Dragons’ Most Valuable Player as a rookie.

”My memories run the gammit. From having more than 20 games cancelled by weather my freshman year, to winning the MVP as a freshman with a batting average over .400, to a spring trip to Texas and New Mexico, where we beat Division New Mexico State, 13-12, on a Flint Motschenbacher bad-hop single.”

“I also have fond memories of coming to a struggling program and leaving it as a contender in the NIC. One weekend my senior year, there were six professional baseball teams represented by scouts in the stands. As a freshman, we rarely had six people in the stands!”

“But the wins and losses fade, and memories of some of the real characters I played with remain. Big Ed (Schumacher), Kelly Trautman, one of the best players I've ever played with, Marty Soukup, Jimmy Lowe, coach Joe Warner, Tim Iverson, Darren Dunlop, and the list goes on and on and on.”

Baseball, indeed, was good to Mogck, and it helped shape his life.

“The name on the front of your jersey, or building, is a lot more important than the name on the back. Playing athletics teaches you the value of team work. In television, it's the same. It takes a team to be successful. No one person is more important than anyone else.”

Mogck’s number was eventually retired at MSU Moorhead, along with the rest of the roster when baseball was discontinued following the 1983 season. Still, Mogck continues to follow the athletic scene at his alma mater.

“I do, and I make it over to the campus once in a while to help with the Campus News program. I worked with some of the anchors and reporters this year. I'm still very proud to say "I'M A DRAGON."

Yes, several seasons have elapsed since Kealy and Mogck last flashed their magic on the infeld of Alex Nemzek Field, but they remain in the heart of the reporting lineup at WDAY, a rock double play combination with a wonderful Dragon pedigree.

Scotty's Stroll: A Genuine Renaissance Man

By Larry Scott, retired Sports Information Director

Perhaps the Dragons need only to look as far as their own Hall of Fame to find their next men’s basketball coach. After all, an ex-Dragon with a classy vitae and an active rolodex that includes, among others, the names of Danny Ainge, Richard Attenborough, Sandra Bullock, M. L. Carr, Jacques René Chirac, former president of France, Vince Dooley, John Havlicek, K. C. Jones, Muriel Hemingway, Chris O’Donnell, Joe Paterno, Pierre Salinger, Hershel Walker and John Wooden might have an interest.

Yes, Dr. Jim Nagel would be an intriguing candidate, but it’s unlikely he’s ready to abandon his ongoing career as an English scholar of international acclaim.

“Indeed, when I retire in the next year or two, I may take a coaching job,” said Nagel. “I get contacted about it from time to time, but at the moment I have a book to finish before I think about other things. One college president commented to me that he thought it would be great if the basketball coach were the most widely published scholar in the entire institution. We will see.”

An endowed English professor at the University of Georgia, Nagel is a widely published author and international authority on American fiction, especially Ernest Hemingway. Nagel is credited with the screen play for the 1997 movie “In Love and War” that featured Bullock, the academy award-winning actress.

“I have served as president of the Hemingway Society, the Crane Society, and the new Society for the Study of the American Short Story,” said Nagel. “I am the executive coordinator of the major organization in the field, the American Literature Association, which I helped start. I edited 156 books in the Critical Essays series in addition to 22 of my own. And I edited a major scholarly journal for 20 years. All told, my name (as either author or editor) is in 750,000 copies of books in libraries around the world. My own scholarship is in print in 12 languages.”

A Breckenridge native, Dr. Nagel was a three-time All-Northern Intercollegiate Conference selection at Moorhead State College and the league basketball scoring king as a senior. Nagel scored 1,211 points in 87 games at Moorhead State and was enshrined in both the Dragon and NSIC Halls of Fame.

Nagel firmly believes sports, and basketball in particular, played a major role in shaping his life and career.

“Basketball has meant an enormous amount to me throughout my life, and my athletic background is certainly the key to who I am, what I value, how I function. I believe in hard work, fair play, and being true to your word. I admire achievement based on merit. I endorse Coach (John) Wooden’s observation that the key to athletic success is to make yourself worthy of winning.”

There are lessons to be learned from the game, Nagel insists, and subscribing to an unwritten code of conduct is a serious expectation.

“I believe in knocking the other guy down and helping him up, and I expect him to do both of those things for me. When a game is over, everyone should shake hands and congratulate those who played a good game, no matter which side they are on. The game is sacred; one contestant cannot be allowed to ruin it with a dirty play, a cheap shot, a deliberate injury to another player. Basketball is a beautiful game, athleticism at its highest elevation, and playing it well is a great thing to behold.”

Basketball has long had a serious grip on Nagel, and it started early.

“My earliest memory is of standing on the seat of an auditorium chair in Breckenridge cheering for my cousin when he scored a basket in 1944. I was three. Breckenridge had won the state in 1940 after losing in the semi-finals in 1939, and there were photos of the championship team in every store in town. I played lots of sports, but I slept with a basketball throughout my childhood. Even after football practice I would go out to a farm near town and shoot jump shots every evening up in the hayloft. I would mark the places and count groups of 25 shots and percentages. I would finish with 100 free throws.

“I got a rather late start in high school in the sense that I was in the hospital most of the summer before my sophomore year, and I weighed only 105 pounds when school started that year. I could not play football, of course, and I was weak and still recovering through the basketball season. My junior year I came on stronger, but defense and rebounding were the focus of my game since Lindy Kissell (the other forward) led the Lake Region Conference in scoring. My senior year I was moved to center and I won the conference scoring trophy and was MVP. I worked hard at the game because I loved it (still do), and I played at MS with guys who felt the same way about it.”

Nagel enrolled at MSC in 1958, and the real adventure began.

“I started several games as a freshman, but I had a lot to learn and some growing to do. The breakthrough came the next year during the Christmas tournament at Concordia when we played NDSU, led by All-American Marv Bachmeier. He was a beautiful guard with a great outside shot, and he had scored 55 points in an earlier game.”

“I had seen him play several times, and I admired him immensely. I wanted to try to outplay him, and I did. At halftime of our game, I had 21 points, and he had about seven. We won easily (I ended up with 28), and (coach) Larry MacLeod called me in for a chat and said some nice things. I led the team in scoring from that night forward.”

“Larry gave me confidence and support, and it meant a lot. My senior year he was at Indiana on sabbatical, but he wrote to me to say I was the only player he could remember to lead the conference in scoring and be selected as the MVP while serving as president of the student commission. I always thought he was a bright guy who was perceptive, interesting, and very funny.”

“MacLeod took a rather different approach to the game,” Nagel recalled. “Here the analysis of the strategy of the opposition was largely subordinated to team discipline, to the percentage shot, to strong defense, to rebounding, and a lot of important details not usually represented in newspaper summaries. . . He respected the intelligence of his players, and he did not encumber us with excessive controls. We knew always he regarded the academic integrity of the program as foremost in his relationship with us. . . In that climate basketball was important but subordinate to other concerns. We should represent the college and make a good showing, but primarily we should play for fun, for personal satisfaction, for friendship, for the sheer exhilaration of athletics.”

Sports played a prominent role in shaping Nagel’s career, but academics were always a major priority.

“In all honesty, I’m not sure I could say that sports did much for my education. Indeed, professionally I would be in better shape today if I had spent all those thousands of hours over the years studying French and German and reading the modern novel. In terms of personal development, however, sports were very important. I first found acceptance, self respect and a sense of myself in sports at Breckenridge. In college, basketball also helped me to feel I belonged to the institution, and I think whatever confidence and character I possess today came in large measure out of basketball and my year as president of the student commission.”

“My life has been a mixture of literature and athletics from the very beginning. I read my way through the complete works of Jack London when I was 12, and I was already hooked. English was my favorite subject in high school, and I knew when I came to Moorhead that it would be my major. I took Physical Education classes to cover coaching; I never wanted to teach it as my subject area.”

“At Moorhead State I took a course in the Modern Novel and read The Sun Also Rises. I wrote a paper about it, comparing it to The Great Gatsby in many respects: narrative method, structure, theme of lost idealism, etc. My professor, Richard Browne, had taught at Penn State and knew the world’s leading Hemingway scholar, Philip Young. Browne sent my paper to Phil, and he wrote to me, expressing appreciation for my work and encouraging me to come there and study with him as a graduate student. I did so.”

“In the middle of my grad program, my aunt (with whom I had lived throughout my childhood) had a stroke in Breckenridge, and somebody had to pay the bills. I took a job as an instructor at MS (1965-68) and got some great experience with a variety of classes, including the modern novel and a grad class on Hemingway and Faulkner. I also wrote a book during those years that came out the first year I was back working on my doctorate. I received my Ph.D. in English in 1971 and took a job at Northeastern University in Boston, which included the bonus of research privileges at Harvard, which has a great library.”

Nagel valued the stimulating academic setting at Northeastern and enjoyed pickup basketball games that often included some of the legendary former Boston Celtics.

“The Northeastern years were good for me. I taught mostly grad classes, and every year I gave a Hemingway seminar at the John F. Kennedy Library, which houses the Hemingway collection of manuscripts. My book on Stephen Crane (Stephen Crane and Literary Impressionism) made me a full professor early in my career, and another book on Hemingway inspired Northeastern to make me a Distinguished Professor and to give me an endowed chair, the first ever in the humanities at that school. But I left Boston in 1991 to come to the University of Georgia to be Eidson Distinguished Professor of American Literature, a position that features reduced teaching (almost all grad courses), a huge expense account with a travel budget, and a great deal of work with doctoral students. I have enjoyed all of that a great deal.”

While basketball was clearly the game of choice for Nagel, he enjoyed his time on the tennis courts as well and still does.

“I was captain of the tennis team at Moorhead and came in second in the conference my junior year. Later, I coached the tennis team at MS for two years, stopping only my last year to study for a national competition for a three-year federal award to complete a Ph.D. I won it. It was called a National Defense Education Act Fellowship, and it saw me through the last three years of my Ph.D. program at Penn State.”

“I have played tennis steadily ever since I graduated, winning about 80 tournaments. My partner and I won the Massachusetts doubles championship three times when I taught up there. I was never as good as Larry Dodge, who played at NDSU, but I became a very competitive doubles player. Still. In Georgia, a hotbed of tennis, my partner and I were defeated twice in the finals of the state championship, thus coming in second two times.”

“I still play tennis twice a week, including USTA tournaments; I play golf, but not so well; and I am working on my skiing, which is difficult, living in Georgia. But I ski two or three weeks in the Rockies every year, and I would love to be a ski instructor, my long-range goal. I taught swimming seven years, starting at the pool a block from Alex Nemzek Hall. In short, I still love athletics just as much as I did at Moorhead State. I go to everything at UGA, and the quality of athletes I get to see is quite impressive.”

While his wonderful odyssey has carried him around the world, memories of his days in the Red River Valley are never far away.

“I know where I come from. I am a small-town Minnesota kid from a poor family, the first in the family to go to college. (Not so unusual in my generation.) No matter where I went or what I did, speaking at the Ritz Hotel in Paris, or to a United Nations committee in Italy, or lecturing to the doctoral students and faculty at the University of Heidelberg, I was a Dragon basketball player who loves literature.”

“The most fun I have had in my life was my years in Moorhead. I had wonderful buddies I liked and respected, and we played some good ball. It pleased me that my senior year I was selected as the MVP in the conference in basketball by a unanimous vote of the coaches. I also led the conference in scoring that year, setting records for most field goals. We had a good team, but we lacked a big center, which hurt in some crucial games.”

Nagel has no doubts about the impact MSUM has had on his life. “The strongest feelings I have about my years at Moorhead State are about the sense of community we all felt in those years. We were part of a school with a long history and a unique tradition; it was designed for us, and we were totally identified with it. We were scramblers in those days, poor kids from small towns and unsophisticated families who saw MS as our avenue to a meaningful career and a richer life in every sense. We came to know everyone at the college, faculty and students and staff, and the feeling of belonging was very strong.”

“As a professional, I have tried hard to be the best professor I can be. . . I think it important to have balance; I need the friendship of a group of guys; I love the physical workout. It is great for my health in all respects, and it has helped me continue to be productive through a long career. It is 48 years since I taught my first college English class. I am still one of the most popular teachers at the University of Georgia. So, I did nothing special to integrate sports and work except to live my life the way I enjoy it most. The last day I teach will be a very sad day for me. The last day I participate in a sport will be, I very much hope, the last day of my life.”

In “Basketball: A Personal Retrospective,” an essay that appeared in the Journal of American Culture, Nagel confesses his love affair with basketball and takes a deeper look at collegiate athletics.

“No one who saw me play basketball would have confused me with Larry Bird. Dr. J., I was not. . . The game I played was more modest in tone and decorum; it was a lot more calculated and precise, more of a team effort, and on a vastly different scale, although not nearly so spectacular to watch. I played small college basketball: that humble world of athletes an inch too short, a step too slow, a year too far behind in development to try for the big time. There were no scholarships, no one thought much about national championships, no one dreamed of the cover of SPORTS ILLUSTRATED.”

Despite the problems that surround intercollegiate athletics today, Nagel still sees collegiate basketball as a most worthy experience.

“What ultimately emerges from a consideration of these points is the inescapable conclusion that for all the fun of collegiate athletics those of us who are involved in education must ensure their balanced role in university life. I should not like to deny to any student the unforgettable experiences I had in basketball, but I should not like to preclude any student from the solid academic background that can lead to a satisfying profession either. Basketball meant a lot to me, so much that when I stopped playing I could not go near the game for years. I do not think that I will drift on forever…but I don’t think I will ever be entirely comfortable with the idea that I can no longer play either. In our most sober moments, I doubt that any of us in academics can approach college athletics entirely free of ambivalence. Certainly I cannot. But if in the darkness I should at night be awakened by a strange figure who bids me follow, and if a gleaming court should suddenly appear, along with the slim friends of my youth, and we should glide weightlessly across the court, playing effortlessly with the wind in our hair and joy in our hearts, I would be hard pressed not to follow him forever, and I would never need another dream.”

This Cardinal Has Plenty to Chirp About

By Larry Scott, MSUM Staff

Wendy DeVorak Kohler reached a memorable coaching milestone this winter with her 400th career victory at Alexandria High School, a highwater mark well beyond the grasp of all but a few select coaches.

It’s unlikely Kohler even noticed.

Her pedal-to-the-medal approach doesn’t leave much time for self-appreciation. After all, there’s always another game, another challenge on the horizon, more work to be done.

The onetime Dragon has built a dynasty of sorts during 25 seasons as head girls’ basketball coach at Alexandria, a portfolio that includes seven Central Lakes Conference titles, six trips to the Minnesota State High School Championships and six Coach of the Year certificates. Her latest edition, 20-5 overall and ranked fourth on the Minnesota State Class AA poll, is well poised to make another serious post-season run.

Kohler earned 12 prep letters at Bertha-Hewitt High School and was named to the All-Park Region Conference basketball team three times before signing on at Minnesota State Moorhead. She was a three-year letterwinner at MSUM and made a substantial contribution to the Dragons’ first Northern Sun Conference championship in 1981-82.

Those were the days, and they still remain a great wellspring of radiant memories.

“I didn’t start until my junior year and wasn't used to that at all,” Kohler said. “It was hard, but it made me a much tougher competitor. I had a super experience with the Dragons. I learned a lot about a good work ethic, staying focused on your dreams and not becoming discouraged when things don't go exactly your way.”

“Winning the conference (title) and going to the national tournament (NAIA) was a highlight for sure. All of the friendships and fun times with everyone were special. We all supported each other in our activities and enjoyed the team atmosphere at MSU.”

A 1983 graduate with a Physical Education major, Kohler realized early on teaching and coaching were her true calling. “I knew in seventh grade I wanted to become a teacher and basketball coach. I was so inspired by my PE teacher, Linda Kalland. I loved her energy, enthusiasm and intensity in the classroom and the court.”

After leaving MSU Moorhead, she didn’t have to wait long for a chance.

“I started teaching the summer after I graduated and was hired (at Alexandria) three days before school started. It was only 40 per cent at first, but I was full-time after Christmas. (Former Dragon basketball student- manager) Dave Strand, a principal at Lincoln Elementary, was my supervising teacher during student teaching and asked me to interview. I did and got the job.”

Kohler may have been young, but she had no time for self-doubt.

“I remember being nervous and thinking, ‘What if they know more than I do,’ after all, I was 21 and they were like 14 through 18. Then I thought, of course, I know more; I can do this!"

She quickly transformed the Cards from pretenders to contenders. She piloted the Cardinals to the 1997 Minnesota State Class AA Championship and led the Cards to five other appearances, including a state consolation crown in 1988 and a trip to the Minnesota State quarterfinals in 1998.

Cardinal Activities Director Dave Hartmann is a card-carrying member of the Kohler fan club. A reliable frontline starter at the University of Minnesota, Morris, Hartmann knows more than a little about the game. His daughter, Lindsay, started for the Dragons while son Eric is a member of the Concordia College program.

“Wendy has coached cross country, volleyball, softball, and for twenty-five years has served as our head girls basketball coach,” said Hartmann. “She has been a role model and inspiration to many young women in Alexandria.”


“Wendy brings energy every day and constantly strives to introduce new motivational ideas,” Hartmann said. “She is very vocal and immerses herself into the game. Coach Kohler is involved in the program K-12 and has made a year round commitment to building a quality program. Wendy develops a special bond with players that becomes a life-long connection.”

“Our girl’s basketball program has been very successful with a state championship, several state tournament appearances and Central Lakes Conference championships,” added Hartmann. “With a limited number of head female coaches in the high school ranks, having a leader like Wendy is the exception. Young women have been inspired by Coach Kohler to become coaches and touch the lives of many.”

Experience has been a wonderful ally for Kohler, and she remains fascinated by the nuances of the game. “The strategy and Xs and Os have come easy for me. I love the challenges of diagnosing defenses, matchups and playing chess on the court with the opposing coaches!”

The good times in Alexandria have filled a huge mental scrapbook for Kohler.

“The best memories are of the athletes and coaching staffs; we have had such consistency over the years. We’ve been blessed with talented young athletes, and you can't win without talent in the CLC or section. The first trip to the State tourney in 1988 was really something to remember. There were only two classes then, and we won the consolation championship, but lost to Rosemount, the eventual state champs, in OT.”

“During the state championship run in 1997, we hit a dramatic three at the buzzer in overtime at Hibbing to send us to Williams Arena, and then we beat the undefeated Minneapolis North Polars in the State Championship. We’ve had a lot of tremendous competitors here in Alex, and all the other five state tournament trips were memorable as well.”

Don’t ask her about burnout; it’s not even a consideration.

“I think my expectations are still very high, and I put a lot of pressure on myself to produce positive results on the court, but I think I am more patient now as a coach, keeping things in a better perspective.”
Despite the taxing schedule, Kohler has no plans to walk away from the game in the near future.

“As long as it’s fun and the athletes keep working at their games to improve, (I’ll continued coaching). My daughter Kendall is in the fifth grade, and they have quite the little competitive team! They crack me up, such intensity. My assistant coach, ex-Dragon Julie Hatlestad, has a daughter on the team as well, so we’ll see if we can make it that long. To see your own daughters being such tremendous competitors is really fun. We also have a son, Chase, in the eighth grade, and I don't like missing his events, so we'll have to see how things go. One day at a time!”

Kohler admits it can be difficult to balance her professional and family life.

“It is very difficult, but if it’s truly your career and passion you will do whatever it takes to make things work. I was in the gym just days after our kids were born. They were in car seats and on my hip and learned at a young age what the black line meant on the court after they got knocked on the head by a ball or run over by a player, but they loved going there. I also have had a lot of help from family and friends to coordinate schedules and care.”

“It takes some sacrifice in the off season, spending endless hours in a sweaty gym working with athletes, coaching league and travel tournaments, coordinating youth programs and helping and supporting the junior high coaches. I wouldn't trade it for anything; I’m wired for the competition, for the relationships with the girls, to help make them successful in the game of life as well.”

Kohler is quick to deflect any credit to her family, coaches and athletes.

“(I’m thankful for) a work ethic that my Mom and Dad (Charles and Marge DeVorak) taught me at a young age. They never enabled us, just supported and encouraged us to work hard, do the best we can, and never use excuses. I feel like I work very hard at organizing competitive, energetic practices that are also very challenging. Being able to connect with our athletes is important as well and having a supportive family and an inexhaustible spirit is key as well. I won't let anyone outwork me. . . ever.”

What kind of legacy would Kohler like?

“I care a lot about every person I have ever had in our program. It's neat to see them grow up into strong young women. When I get cards with pictures of their families at Christmas, it makes me feel great to see their happiness and how they have become wonderful young mothers with careers of their own. I feel sadness when I hear of their struggles as well. I have three former players who have a child with cancer, and they are fighting a battle against an opponent much more formidable than any CLC team. I pray for them and worry about them. I would like to be remembered as a coach who loves her players for life!”

A swell legacy, indeed.

Scotty's Stroll: More Honors Await Dragon Wrestling Legend

By Larry Scott, MSUM Staff

The hits just keep coming for Nate Hendrickson.

Thirteen years ago the Menagha native climbed aboard the victory stand at the Bison Sports Arena in Fargo, ND to celebrate the culmination of a most remarkable junior season, a crusade that emblazoned his name in national headlines.

Indeed, Hendrickson put a dramatic exclamation mark on a marvelous campaign by running the table to win the 167-pound title at the 1997 NCAA Division II National Wrestling Championships at North Dakota State University. Hendrickson exited as the only unbeaten Division II wrestler in 1996-97 with a spotless 28-0 ledger, and NCAA II coaches also decorated him with the prestigious Outstanding Wrestler award.

A four-time All-American, Hendrickson was enshrined in the Dragon Hall of Fame in 2008. Now, another significant coronation awaits.

Hendrickson is among eight individuals who will be inducted into the NCAA Division II Wrestling Hall of Fame in mid-March. The induction will take place in Omaha, Neb. at Anthony’s Steakhouse preceding the start of the 48th annual NCAA II National Championships hosted by the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Hendrickson’s induction is certain to rekindle memories of that special season, and he admits his appreciation for the national title has grown.

“It probably means more now,” said Hendrickson. “As you get older, you realize that to go undefeated and win the national title, everything just had to fall in place. It means a lot; it’s a pretty cool thing when I look back on it.”

“It was definitely a relief when I won,” Hendrickson confessed. “Oh, I was happy, but I was happiest for my coaches and my family; I liked that the most. My mom and dad had been to so many state and national championships, and none of us brothers had ever won a title.”

His heroics lifted MSU Moorhead to 11th on the final team standings, MSUM’s best finish since a fifth place

run at the 1969 NCAA II tournament. Hendrickson was named All-American for a third straight year and became the first Dragon to win a national title since Frank Mosier copped an NAIA crown in 1967.

“It’s a dream come true and I’m happy to be part of it,” Hendrickson explained to reporters following the finals. “I’m happy for the university and (to be) its first national champion in 30 years. For the most part I wasn’t worried about the record. When you go out and wrestle not to lose, that’s when you get beat. I tried to put that aside.”

Following a 7-3 victory over Kevin Allison of Chadron (Neb.) State in the opening round, Hendrickson weathered a pair of sticky overtime matches to reach the finals. He outlasted North Dakota State’s Brett Svendsen 4-2 in a sudden death battle of wills, and dispatched of Tim Pomfret of Ashland (Ohio) College, 1-1 TB, in the semifinals. Hendrickson removed any lingering drama with a quick start and thumped Jeron Quincy of Central Missouri State University 9-1 in the championship bout.

His trusted coach, John Sterner, wasn’t surprised by Hendrickson’s performance. “When it came down to crunch time in overtime, Nate didn’t panic. He took the bull by the horns and really showed his mental toughness. Nate changed his style when he had to.”

“He proved he’s number one,” said Sterner, following the championship match, “and his weight class was the toughest in the country, I really believe that. Nate’s unreal. He’s very sure of himself, but not arrogant, and he really showed his mental toughness. He sets realistic goals and achieves them. He’s certainly the most coachable wrestler I’ve ever had.”

Now, years later, Hendrickson still thinks often of his teammates and coaches. “I stay in contact with Sterner, Spencer (Yohe) and Keenan (Spiess),” said Hendrickson. “Sterner was the most positive coach I’ve ever been involved with. If you lost he would always point out the positives, and the negatives, too.”

“That’s something I try and do today,” said Hendrickson. “It’s easy to get frustrated, but I remind myself to stay positive. He’s just a great, great role model for all of us. Another thing, he was in his late 50s when he coached us but his ability to relate to people of my age back then was unbelievable. It takes a special person to do that.”

Arguably the greatest wrestler in Dragon history, Bucky Maughan also knows something about mental tenacity. A three-time national champion and NCAA Division I winner in 1963, Maughan had a front row seat to watch Hendrickson’s run and the NDSU head coach was impressed.

“I’m very happy for him,” said Maughan, following Hendrickson’s perfecto. “He looked great in the finals, and I told him he made a real believer out of me. I’m happy to see him lead MSU back to respectability on the national level. That’s what you need – a star – and others will follow him.”

A six-year starter and letterwinner at Menahga High School, Hendrickson placed third in the Minnesota State Class A Championships as a sophomore and senior, and fourth as a junior. He also built a remarkable prep record of 175-26-2, the fourth finest in Minnesota schoolboy history.



One of 12 children of parents Peter and Mary, Nate grew up on a 360-acre dairy farm and learned early about an honest day’s work. “Living on the farm, you get used to hard work. I took the same attitude into wrestling and it paid off. It was a good experience.”

A three-sport letterman at Menahga High, Hendrickson earned all-conference honors in football, wrestling and baseball, but wrestling was his passion. He earned four trips to the Minnesota State High School Championships with three top four finishes and exited with 175 lifetime victories, the fourth highest collection in Minnesota prep history. There were eight boys in the Hendrickson clan, and five--- Dave, Joel, Eric, Luke and Nate---wrestled all the way through. They combined for over 650 wins.

Hendrickson could surely have practiced his craft at a higher level, perhaps at such Division I strongholds as Iowa or Minnesota, but he wastes little time mulling over what might have been.

“I took third twice and fourth once, I had some interest shown from the Gophers. I probably could have gone there even after a third place finish. I made the classic team for the Minnesota-Wisconsin match, and I pinned my Wisconsin opponent, one of the top-ranked ones.”

“My junior year I beat a returning Division I All-American from Wyoming. He was ranked fourth in the nation at the time and I beat him 4-1 at the Northern Iowa tournament, and that put things at ease for me. I knew then that I could have competed at the Division I level.”

Minnesota State Moorhead and NCAA Division II proved to be a perfect setting for Hendrickson.

“Not that we didn’t work hard at D II, but you have to take care of your academics, also. We were dedicated, but we had a lot of fun, too, especially hunting and fishing; it wasn’t all about wrestling.”

A Construction Management major at MSU Moorhead and a member of the department advisory committee, Hendrickson was named facilities manager at Tri-County Health Care in Wadena in 2005.

Nate and his wife Lisa have been married for 11 years with six children, including two boys and four girls. He remains involved in the sport that elevated him to national prominence, and serves as president of the Elementary Wrestling Club in Sebeka and an assistant coach at the varsity level.

Hendrickson is convinced wrestling has taught him some valuable lessons.

“It helps you overcome big challenges,” Hendrickson said. “You have to have a certain amount of character to be able to wrestle at a (high) level one-on-one, to overcome injuries and (deal with) weight loss. Some of the issues you see today in the health care system, they’re big issues, but you can certainly work your way through them. I’ve been in tight situations before.”

“When I interviewed for a company in Texas, they asked me how do I handle stressful situations. I said ‘can I eat, and they said yes,’ referring to the weigh-ins we went through in wrestling.” He got the job and spent a couple of years with a large, heavy highway construction firm before returning to Minnesota.

With more Hendrickson on the horizon, it’s highly unlikely the name will soon be forgotten by those with a real passion for the sport of kings.

Scotty's Stroll: DeClerk DeReal Deal for Dragons of Yesteryear

By: Larry Scott

Once again, Minnesota State Moorhead is at full throttle, well positioned to make a serious run at a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference basketball title and post-season play as well. Dragon fans have come expect nothing less during the Karla Nelson era.

It wasn’t always that way.

While the Dragons have flourished of late under the gentle touch of Nelson, the genesis of today’s successful program can very well be traced to the late 1980s and the arrival of new head coach Lori Ulferts and, perhaps more importantly, some eager, if untested, recruits.

Kris DeClerk Thompson was among the first to answer the call.

“Lori had recruited me to (University of Minnesota,) Crookston, but when she took the job at Moorhead State she brought me with,” said DeClerk. “I played with her a year at Crookston.”

While there was reason for genuine optimism, this would be no overnight success story. MSUM finished 6-20 in 1989-90, but slowly gained traction. Following a 15-10 finish the next season, the Dragons rattled off 23-7 and 20-9 campaigns and the winning foundation was secure.

“Lori said it would be a slow go the first year, but we would have to trust her,” said DeClerk. “She thought she could turn around the program and asked us if we wanted to be a part of it. We weren’t the top picks in Minnesota, but she looked for athletes who were raw that she could bring into the program, were coachable and would play hard.”

DeClerk joined a corps of talented new arrivals that featured Kari Farstveet, Missy Narum and Nikki Scholl, and the Dragons took flight. A 66-55 victory over NCAA Division II national stronghold North Dakota State University in 1992 was especially sweet.

“The year we beat the Bison was one of the standouts,” DeClerk remembers. “That was an awful lot of fun because they were pretty good and it gave us a lot of confidence.”

The Windom native was a fixture in the MSUM starting lineup for three seasons. She earned NAIA and KODAK honorable mention All-American basketball honors as a senior and was a two-time Dragon MVP.

DeClerk set a MSUM single season scoring record of 570 points in 1991-92 and still holds the career scoring record of 17.6 ppg. She ranks fourth in career scoring, 1446, and third in rebounding, 881. A three-time All-NSIC basketball pick, DeClerk was also a two-time All-NAIA District 13 selection and helped Moorhead State advance to post-season play as a junior and senior.

Indeed, it was a swell time for DeClerk and her basketball pals. “I wish I could have played there all four years, that would have been neat, but there are all the memories, memories of teammates, coaches, road trips, practices where you wondered if they were ever going to end, and seasons you never wanted to end.”

In addition to her basketball legacy, DeClerk was a major force in volleyball as well and helped the Dragons advance to two appearances at the NAIA National Championships.

“I was really fortunate to be able to play two sports. Our volleyball team actually got farther, but I think we accomplished more with the basketball program, (considering) where it had come from.”

It was a unique adventure that DeClerk cherished, but she laments that the day of the two-sport athlete is vanishing.

“It’s going by the wayside, and it’s kind of sad. The multi-sport athlete is a dying breed and I wished they weren’t. High school coaches feel pressure to raise to raise the quality of the entire team, so they do put a little bit of pressure on kids to pick a sport.”

The structure has changed as well.

“The off-season opportunities kids have today are not the opportunities we had. When I was in high school we played a sport in the winter, a sport in the spring and a sport in the fall, and in the summer I showed horses so I never did any off-season (stuff).”

Still, DeClerk believes not all is lost for today’s young athletes. “The positive thing is the skilled athletes who are coming out of high school. It’s the amazing, the difference in skill (level).”

Following graduation from MSU Moorhead in 1993, DeClerk spent 14 years as a teacher and coach at Buffalo and two years at Becker as an assistant principal before returning to Buffalo as an assistant principal this year. She has also served as advisor to the National Honor Society and coached in the Junior Bison Basketball program.

The DeClerk-Thompson family roster includes husband Donnie, a basketball coach at Cooper High School, son Hunter (13) and daughter Taylor (10), and while basketball still has a major hold on the family, other sports are making inroads.

“Hunter actually chose hockey over basketball as a sixth grader, and plays football, hockey and basketball while Taylor played soccer and is playing both traveling basketball and U-10 hockey,” DeClerk admitted.

What, hockey instead of basketball? What went wrong here?

“I learned you have to be careful who your babysitters are,” DeClerk laughed. “We had a babysitter who was a hockey player; that was the beginning of the end.”

While DeClerk’s responsibilities at Buffalo High no longer allow her to serve as a varsity coach, she still has her fingers on the pulse of the game. “I was the head coach for eight years and an assistant for a couple of years. I miss it a ton, but there’s just no way. (My job) leaves some time for youth coaching but not at the high school season.”

“I still coach Taylor’s basketball team, and I love it. I want her to play everything so she can choose what she wants to play and who she wants to hang out with in high school. The odds of her being a college athlete (are slim) but she’s going to learn a lot of great things and have a lot of fun with good teammates and great coaches.”

Yes, there are plenty of flaws in the system, DeClerk insists, but there are redeeming values in athletic competition.

“It makes you a stronger person. You learn about your strengths and weaknesses and you gain confidence in yourself. You can have a little fun along the way, too, because it’s only a game, but the lessons you learn along the way are amazing.”

A 2000 inductee into the Dragon Hall of Fame, DeClerk still keeps her eye on the Dragons. “I try and keep up to date with the Dragons, and we’ve kicked around getting together for the alumni (basketball) game. I went to the alumni volleyball game a couple of years ago, but after you’ve had kids you’re slow and you can’t jump. Your brain knows what to do but your body’s laughing at you. It’s frustrating.”

Growing up in southern Minnesota, DeClerk often dreamed about a rodeo career, or perhaps a role in the western movies, but sports offered a real challenge and she was quickly attracted to volleyball, basketball and softball.

It was great fun, but DeClerk also learned that life, and sports, weren’t always fair. There were memorable schoolgirl highlights, but there were disappointments as well, especially a bitter loss to Storden-Jeffers High School in the district basketball finals. Showing horses at the Minnesota State Fair and bringing home a championship trophy remains one of her proudest moments outside of sports.

A Physical Education major, DeClerk remembers those special days of yesteryear. “I miss the camaraderie and I miss the people there; it was a great crew,” said DeClerk.

It was not always ideal, however, and DeClerk remembers a more spartan existence at MSUM.

“I felt that Lori, Katie (Wilson) and Sam (Booth) were great advocates for us. The lockerroom was nasty, we always practiced in the back gym, we never got the fieldhouse, we road around in school vans, and we never got a bus that first year. It’s comical to look back on it, but I’m glad I got that opportunity because otherwise you take it for granted.”

Make no mistake, Kris DeClerk Thompson left an imprint at State and helped raise the bar for others. Not a bad legacy at all.

SCOTTY'S STROLL: Dragons Scoring Whiz Leaves Pro Career Behind for New Challenges

by Larry Scott

The amazing basketball odyssey of Brett Beeson is over, at least chapter one.

The most decorated player in Dragon basketball history, Beeson recently retired after a 12-year run in professional basketball that transported him from Minnesota State University Moorhead to the backcourts of Spain, Israel, France and Switzerland.

“I came to a tough realization that I will never be able to compete again at the professional level,” said Beeson. “My leg just won't get any better and I have abandoned all hope of making a comeback. It is certainly not the way I wanted to go out, but I made it happen for 12 years and I am very grateful for that.”
Beeson’s post-collegiate basketball portfolio included four six league scoring titles, four Most Valuable Player awards, two European championships during stops in France and Spain and a single game high of 56 points. It was a reward, of sorts, for all the sweat and toil that helped build his own special basketball wonderland.

The 6-5 Eden Prairie native logged a season for the ages as a senior at Moorhead State in 1995-96 and became the first Dragon to lead the nation in scoring, winning the NCAA Division II national crown with an average of 33.3 points a game.

It was a memorable crusade that elevated Beeson to the national stage and triggered a landslide of post-season awards. A magna cum laude graduate with a double major in Marketing and Management, he was decorated with first team GTE Academic All-America laurels, honored as GTE Academic Player of the Year and awarded a $5,000 post-graduate scholarship by the NCAA, the lone honoree from Division II. Beeson was named first team All-America by the College Sports Information Director of America and knighted as the CoSIDA Division II Player of the Year.

Beeson’s litany of awards also included Most Valuable Player plaques from both Moorhead State and the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, first team All-NSIC and All-NSIC Academic certificates, and second team All-America recognition by Division II Bulletin. He appeared in the Faces in the Crowd section of Sports Illustrated and received the Midwest Sports Channel Division II Athlete of the Year award.

Fueled by Beeson, the Dragons built a 19-8 overall record, attracted serious post-season playoff consideration and made a spirited bid for the NSIC title. MSU finished 8-4 in the NSIC with a share of second place.

Beeson scored in double figures in all 27 games and reached the 40-point plateau eight times. He scored 30 or more points 28 times as a junior and senior, including 48 points in the 96-95 victory over North Dakota State, and torched University of Minnesota-Morris for 54 points, a Dragon single game high. (“There was nothing we could do,” UMM coach Jim Severson confessed. “I told my team after the game, ‘I have never been beaten by one player.’ Tonight I was.”)

While Beeson’s scoring was all the rage, he also led the Dragons in rebounding, 8.4, steals, 2.7, and field goal shooting, .513, and could apply suffocating defensive pressure when needed.

Although Beeson started for just two years, he still ranks third on the Dragon all-time scoring ledger with 1,825 lifetime points, and his 900-point harvest as a senior remains the MSUM seasonal highwater mark.

A graduate of Eden Prairie High School with a distinct MSU pedigree, Beeson was largely ignored by college basketball recruiters, but a family connection clearly left the door ajar for the Dragons.

“I ended up at MSU because of coach (Dave) Schellhase,” Beeson said. “Although he didn't offer me a scholarship, he was very persistent to make me a Dragon. The fact is that I received no scholarship offers despite my solid senior season. I scored 49 points against arch rival Minnetonka and at the urging of my father sent a video tape of that performance to nearly all of the (area) NCAA Division II and NAIA colleges.

“I heard back from very few schools, but Schellhase picked up the phone to let me know of his interest. He scheduled a meeting and patiently answered all of my questions. Over the next few months he stayed in constant contact with me and really did an excellent job of making me feel wanted.”

“I was very limited as to what I could do in high school because we walked the ball up the court and played a lot of zone defense,” said Beeson. “Schellhase, on the other hand, gave his players a lot of freedom and believed in a high-tempo style of play. I knew his coaching philosophy would play to my strengths and it was a big reason why I wanted to play for him. . . . .This drove me to spend hours in the gym, work on my game, and ultimately make myself the best player I could be. There is no doubt he’s a big reason I went on to play professional basketball.”

While his first season foreshadowed little of the magic to come, Beeson became something of a four-year, overnight sensation. He made 16 varsity appearances as a freshman and averaged 6.4 ppg in a backup role as a sophomore, but following a redshirt season, Beeson blossomed as a junior. His scoring average took a quantum leap to 26.5 ppg, and he was saluted as All-NAIA Midwest Region Player of the Year. All-region and all-conference honors followed as well.

“That happened because I knew it was my time to seize the opportunity presented to me,” Beeson explained. “There were no guarantees, but I had a good idea I was going to be the starting two guard going into my junior year. During that summer, I was at (Alex) Nemzek Hall every day for three to four hours lifting weights, shooting jump shots and doing everything I could to make myself a better ball player.”
“My skills improved dramatically because of the time and effort I put in and I approached the game with an entirely different mentality once the season started. Instead of being just another guy on the court, I was determined to show myself and everybody I was the best player out there every single night we played.”

His playing career may be over, but his memory bank is full.

“I have many great memories from my time at MSU. I remember most vividly beating North Dakota State 96-95 my senior year. I had a very special night, going 19 of 27 from the floor on my way to 48 points. This will always be my favorite individual basketball memory simply because I wanted to beat the Bison more than any other rival in my career.”

“I also remember scoring 54 points against Minnesota-Morris,” Beeson said. “It was as though everything was in slow motion that night. The only way I can explain it is that I was seeing things happen before they actually did.”

While Beeson was very much a self-made success story, he is eager to thank a support system that never wavered.

“I was very fortunate to play with wonderful people during my years as a Dragon and always loved it when we went on the road together,” Beeson remembers. “Some of the best conversations I have had took place on those rides.”

“My family provided tremendous inspiration for me to succeed in my athletic endeavors. My father, Larry, and his brothers attended MSU in the 60s and 70s. We were always big fans of the program, and I remember going to nearly all of Dragon basketball and football games as a child. We also attended a lot of track and cross-country meets to watch my uncle, Bob. He was an All-American at MSU and had his picture on the wall at Alex Nemzek Hall. Every time I saw that picture I told myself one day mine would be up there, too.”

What new adventures await Beeson?

“Now that my professional basketball career has come to an end, I am focusing on being a college basketball analyst. I am currently doing radio and internet TV broadcasts for Long Beach State and Cal State Dominguez Hills. It is my goal to eventually rise to the top and be a color commentator for an NBA franchise. I have also secured a role in the major motion picture SWEETWATER, the story of Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton, the first African-American to sign an NBA contract.”

It seems only right that serious Dragon fans can expect to hear from Beeson again, on another stage at another time.